Dr. Dawkins Commencement Speech

Dr. Jerald Dawkins, CEO and Founder of True Digital Security, was the commencement speaker at the 2017 OSU Institute of Technology graduation ceremony. During his speech, he touched on concrete advice to help both inspire and prepare the graduates for future success in the workplace. Below are excerpts from Dr. Dawkins’ commencement speech:

The first thing: When you do show up, get there early, and stay late.

If you get there early and stay late, it will pay off in more ways than just a pay raise every now and then. Trust me. Your boss will notice, and you will be rewarded with more responsibility too. You will be one of the “go-to” employees they can count on to handle important projects. Other employees will notice too, and you will start seeing them show up early and stay a little later just to keep up.

My next piece of advice if you want to be successful: Don’t be afraid of failure… Fail Forward.

There is a saying that I like that goes something like this: “Good judgement comes with experience; unfortunately, experience is usually gained through bad judgement.” Your failures will make you stronger. Your failures should not define you, but rather how you respond to those failures will drive your future success.

My next piece of advice for you: Pay attention to details.

When small details are missed, it communicates that you don’t care enough to get it right. It also inspires a lack of confidence in everything else you do. As a boss, I feel like if my employees are messing up simple little details, then what else are they getting wrong? Pay attention to details, no matter how small. Read it two or three times. Double check the math. And, before you send that email, make sure it’s going to the right person.

My next piece of advice if you want to be successful: Understand the value of hard work.

See, at the end of the day, it takes a commitment to hard work to achieve success. It does not come easy. As with anything in life, you get out of it what you put in to it.

Be stubborn. Be determined. Stay committed. And never, ever give up.

We here at True value all five of these principles of success in our employees and our business. These values have helped our founders turn a small start-up into a m?ulti-million-dollar business.

If you also value these principles in a company and are in need of any of our services, please reach out to us. We would be pleased to meet with you, talk to you about our services, and come alongside your company to assist in your cyber-security needs.